At the end of the 12.10 development cycle, the Ubuntu flavour decidedthat it would reduce the number of milestone images going forward andthe focus would concentrate on daily quality and fortnightly testingrounds known as cadence testing. Based on that change, The Ubuntuproduct itself will not have an Alpha-1 release. Its first milestonerelease will be the FinalBetaRelease on the 28th of March 2013.Other Ubuntu flavours have the option to release using the usualmilestone schedule.

Pre-releases of Raring Ringtail are *not* encouraged for anyoneneeding a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable runninginto occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however,recommended for Ubuntu developers and those who want to help intesting, reporting and fixing bugs as we work towards gettingthis release ready.

Alpha 1 includes a number of software updates that are ready for widertesting. This is quite an early set of images, so you should expect somebugs.

While these Alpha 1 images have been tested and work, except as noted inthe release notes, Ubuntu developers are continuing to improve RaringRingtail. In particular, once newer daily images are available, systeminstallation bugs identified in the Alpha 1 installer should be verifiedagainst the current daily image before being reported in Launchpad.Using an obsolete image to re-report bugs that have already been fixedwastes your time and the time of developers who are busy trying to make13.04 the best Ubuntu release yet. Always ensure your system is up todate before reporting bugs.

Edubuntu: Edubuntu is the educational flavour of Ubuntu. Based on the standard Ubuntu desktop, it features educational tools and content for schools and at home.

If you're interested in following the changes as we further developRaring, we suggest that you subscribe to the ubuntu-devel-announce list.This is a low-traffic list (a few posts a week) carrying announcementsof approved specifications, policy changes, alpha releases and otherinteresting events.